'Built his citizenship on fraud': DOJ targets Florida ex-mayor over alleged sham marriage, fake identity



President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is moving to denaturalize a former mayor in Florida for allegedly misrepresenting his identity and immigration history to become a U.S. citizen.

Philippe Bien-Aime was first elected mayor of North Miami in 2019, but resigned in 2022 to lead an unsuccessful bid for the Miami-Dade County Commission.

'The complaint alleges that this defendant built his citizenship on fraud — using false identities, false statements, and a sham marriage to evade a lawful removal order.'

The DOJ filed a denaturalization case against Bien-Aime on February 18.

Prosecutors state Bien-Aime “willfully misrepresented his identity and immigration history throughout the naturalization process,” WTVJ reported.

Department of Homeland Security records, including fingerprint comparisons, found that Bien-Aime was previously ordered removed from the U.S. under the name Philippe Janvier, court documents claimed.

An immigration judge found in 2000 that Janvier entered the U.S. by fraudulently using a photo-switched passport. The judge ordered his deportation to his country of birth, Haiti.

RELATED: Kentucky driver’s licensing scandal: 5 charged for allegedly illegally issuing licenses to immigrants in exchange for cash

Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images

“In 2001, Bien-Aime was placed in removal proceedings and ordered removed under the Janvier identity,” a DOJ press release read. “He appealed the removal order, but he withdrew the appeal, representing that he had returned to live in Haiti. In reality, Bien-Aime remained in the United States and, using the new name and date of birth, married a U.S. citizen to obtain permanent resident status."

The DOJ claimed the marriage was fraudulent and invalid because he was already married to a Haitian citizen.

"After making numerous false and fraudulent statements in adjustment and naturalization proceedings, he naturalized in 2006 under the Bien-Aime identity," the department stated.

RELATED: Stopping the steal: Sen. Lee, Republicans demand Election Day integrity ahead of SCOTUS fight over 'rolling' ballot counts

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

If the DOJ’s denaturalization case against Bien-Aime is successful, it could raise legal questions about his time in office, WTVJ reported.

Peterson St. Philippe, Bien-Aime’s attorney, told the Miami Herald, “We believe it is appropriate to address the allegations through the judicial process rather than through public commentary. We trust that any reporting will reflect that the matter remains unresolved and that no findings have been made.”

North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme told the news outlet that he and his administration were unaware of the claims against Bien-Aime.

“The complaint alleges that this defendant built his citizenship on fraud — using false identities, false statements, and a sham marriage to evade a lawful removal order,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The fact that he later served as an elected mayor makes the alleged deception even more serious, because public office carries a duty of candor and respect for the rule of law.”

“This administration will not permit fraudsters and tricksters who cheat their way to the gift of U.S. citizenship,” stated Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division. “The passage of time does not diminish blatant immigration fraud.”

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Trump makes big appearance in Epstein files — just not the way Democrats may have hoped



When it became clear in December that the complete release of the Jeffrey Epstein files would be delayed, various Democrats suggested that President Donald Trump might be trying to conceal damning and previously unknown details about his relationship with the child sex offender.

For example, Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), a recipient of contributions from Epstein, suggested that "this is nothing more than a cover-up to protect Donald Trump from his ugly past."

Unfortunately for Schumer and other Democrats apparently desperate for dirt on the president, one of the newly released files reveals that Trump was anything but an ally to Epstein — that he reportedly thanked law enforcement for going after the pervert and stressed the importance of also focusing on Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former lover and co-conspirator.

'She is evil.'

A document dated April 23, 2020, details an interview conducted by FBI agents the previous year with a law enforcement official regarding his department's investigation into Epstein in the 2000s and his personal conversation on the topic at the time with Trump.

Although his name is redacted, the document appears to indicate that the interviewee became chief of the Palm Beach Police Department in 2001.

Michael Reiter — the man who served as chief of the PBPD from 2001 to 2009 and launched the first investigation into Epstein — confirmed to the Miami Herald that he was interviewed by FBI agents in 2019 and spoke with Trump in July 2006.

RELATED: Massie drops bombshell after review of unredacted Epstein files, helps put name to alleged co-conspirator

Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

According to the FBI's 302 summary of its interview, the interviewee told the feds that "TRUMP was one of the very first people to call when people found out that they were investigating EPSTEIN."

In addition to noting that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago and that people in New York knew Epstein was disgusting, Trump told the chief that he was "around EPSTEIN once when teenagers were present and ... 'got the hell out of there.'"

Trump expressed gratitude to the interviewee for doing something about the sex offender, stating, "Thank goodness you're stopping him; everyone has known he’s been doing this," the FBI said in the 302 document.

Trump also mentioned Epstein's "operative" Ghislaine Maxwell in his conversation with the chief, noting that "she is evil and to focus on her," said the document.

Maxwell, 64, was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls as young as 14 with Epstein, going all the way back to the early 1990s.

An FBI official told the Herald, "We are not aware of any corroborating evidence that the president contacted law enforcement 20 years ago."

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in response to the newly released document, "Trump didn't play their game, he helped expose it. And when they couldn't blackmail him they tried to smear him."

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Massie drops bombshell after review of unredacted Epstein files, helps put name to alleged co-conspirator



Roughly six weeks past the deadline to publish all of its files on child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Justice Department released over 3 million additional pages in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

While the documents provide new insights into Epstein, his degeneracy, and his international network of affluent allies, they are rife with redactions. Lawmakers have, however, been afforded the opportunity to review the unredacted files in person at the DOJ after giving 24 hours' notice.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who with Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) rushed to inspect the files at the first available opportunity in hopes of identifying "the men who Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women to," revealed on Monday that he came across "the names of at least six men that have been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files."

'Give the DOJ a chance to say they made a mistake and over-redacted.'

While Massie indicated that it was prudent to identify the men from the House floor or in a committee hearing — where he would be protected from civil lawsuits over perceived defamation or libel — he told reporters that "at least one is a U.S. citizen, at least one is a foreigner, and the other three or four have names I'm not sure if they're foreign or U.S."

"One is pretty high up in a foreign government," added Massie.

Khanna, addressing reporters jointly with the Kentucky Republican, chimed in to note that "one of the others is a pretty prominent individual." The Democrat suggested there may be more questionably redacted names, stressing they had only scratched the surface with their two-hour review.

RELATED: 'Game's up, mate': Starmer refuses to resign over appointment of disgraced Epstein ally as US ambassador

Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

The Kentucky Republican noted, "I would like to give the DOJ a chance to say they made a mistake and over-redacted and let them unredact those men's names."

'It wasn't unredacted until tonight.'

The DOJ seized upon the opportunity to make some adjustments.

Massie noted later on Monday that the DOJ had unredacted both "an FBI file that LABELS two individuals as co-conspirators" and "a file that lists several men who might be implicated."

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the DOJ unredacted former Victoria's Secret CEO Lex Wexner's name from a 2019 FBI document identifying him as a possible co-conspirator in Epstein's sex-trafficking case. He noted that Wexner's name appears "thousands of times" elsewhere in the Epstein files and stated, "DOJ is hiding nothing."

"This is significant because Kash Patel testified to Congress that FBI had no evidence of other sex traffickers," Massie said in response. "This is FBI’s own 2019 document listing Wexner as coconspirator in child sex trafficking. It wasn't unredacted until tonight."

The DOJ standards recommend against identifying unindicted co-conspirators unless they have been charged with the same conspiracy by way of unsealed criminal complaint or information. The document Massie referred to alleges that Wexner was a co-conspirator of Epstein.

Wexner stated in July 2019 that he had long since severed any connection with Epstein and "would not have continued to work with any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has been reported about him."

"When Mr. Epstein was my personal money manager, he was involved in many aspects of my financial life. But let me assure you that I was NEVER aware of the illegal activity charged in the indictment," added Wexner.

Department of Justice

Blaze News has reached out to the Wexner Foundation for comment.

'They're trafficking girls all across the world.'

The Epstein Files Transparency Act permits the DOJ to redact portions of records that:

  • "contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy";
  • depict child pornography;
  • "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary";
  • "depict or contain images of death, physical abuse, or injury of any person"; or
  • "contain information specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order."

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who also reviewed the documents on Monday, concluded that there are "lots of co-conspirators," reported CNN.

"I mean, it's disgusting," said Moskowitz. "There are lots of names, lots of co-conspirators, and they're trafficking girls all across the world."

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Trump admin draws line in sand, signals noncompliance with Judge Boasberg's order in Tren de Aragua case



The Department of Justice is apparently no longer willing to play ball with U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, the Washington, D.C.-based activist judge who has spent the past year frustrating the Trump administration's efforts to keep suspected criminal noncitizens out of the homeland.

This turning point, signaled in a court filing last week, all but guarantees a showdown between Boasberg and government attorneys in the case J.G.G. v. Trump on Monday — and a possible return to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Quick background

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 15 invoking the Alien Enemies Act and declaring Tren de Aragua "a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization."

The Trump administration subsequently deported hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gangsters — many of whom were credibly accused of murder, robbery, rape, and other crimes — to El Salvador, where they were placed in a Salvadoran prison for terrorists.

'Defendants intend to immediately appeal.'

In July, the administration had Venezuelan deportees who were imprisoned at the Terrorism Confinement Center repatriated to Venezuela, where they were welcomed home by Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, who has since been deposed.

The deportees' safe return home evidently wasn't enough for Boasberg and other activists back in the U.S., including the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the suspected foreign gangsters.

RELATED: Federalism cannot be a shield for sanctuary defiance

Photo by El Salvador Press Presidency Office/Anadolu via Getty Images

In December, Boasberg — an Obama-appointed judge who initially tried to stop the deportations and previously helped the Biden FBI spy on Republican lawmakers' phone records — certified the Venezuelan deportees as a class and ordered the administration to offer them legal relief abroad.

DOJ punches back

DOJ lawyers noted in a filing last week that Boasberg's demands were unworkable.

For starters, the government lawyers pointed out that remote hearings for all of the suspected Venezuelan gangsters would "present insuperable legal bars and substantial practical problems that together render this an untenable and unacceptable proposal."

Besides there being "no legal basis for holding remote habeas hearings without custody," the lawyers noted that the U.S. "cannot enforce perjury or other procedural rules in Venezuela, or even verify the identity of the witnesses." Additionally there would be no way of ensuring that sensitive or classified information implicated in the proceedings could be protected over "potentially unsecure lines in foreign settings."

In light of these and other problems with remote hearings, the lawyers noted that "the only jurisdictionally proper means of permitting new habeas proceedings would be for aliens to return to United States custody."

Bringing the Venezuelans back for proceedings, however, "presents grave national security and foreign policy impediments" — not least because the deportees "have been determined to be members of a foreign terrorist organization" and may lack passports or identity documents.

The lawyers suggested that taking the Venezuelans back into custody would require "diplomacy with top leaders in the Delcy Rodriguez interim regime or foreign sovereigns in third countries and thus raise separation of powers issues."

Satisfying Boasberg's order would threaten "material damage to U.S. foreign policy interests in Venezuela" as it would inject an "extremely complicated issue into what is already a delicate situation, potentially negatively affecting U.S. efforts toward stabilization and transition that aim to benefit tens of millions of Venezuelans," added the lawyers.

The DOJ effectively concluded by telling Boasberg to pound sand: "If, over Defendants' vehement legal and practical objections, the Court issues an injunction, Defendants intend to immediately appeal."

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'Tip of the iceberg': Venezuelans accused of stealing over 100 identities for massive welfare fraud scheme



Somali fraudsters apparently have some competition from other migrant communities.

A pair of Venezuelan nationals were charged along with two other migrants this week for allegedly stealing and using the identities of over 100 individuals to obtain millions of dollars in federal welfare.

The Venezuelans, both of whom previously enjoyed Temporary Protected Status — Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, and Coralba Albarracin Siniva, 24 — and Joel Vicioso Fernandez, a 42-year-old Dominican national and permanent resident of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire, and possess Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

'It is not particularly hard to identify these scams.'

Joel Fernandez's brother, Raul Fernandez Vicioso — a 37-year-old Dominican national and naturalized U.S. citizen who also lives in Fitchburg — was charged with conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, SNAP benefit fraud, aiding and abetting, and money laundering.

Charging documents allege that the men and their co-conspirators used 117 stolen identities from individuals in six states and Puerto Rico to create 24 "households" in SNAP applications. The "households" were said on average to contain four to five people, and all of the fraudulent "households" were listed as living in two single-family apartments in Providence, Rhode Island.

While there was already ample cause for the Rhode Island Office of Internal Audit to suspect something was off, the alleged fraudsters also used the same bogus lease agreement in support of 17 of the 24 applications and routinely submitted and accessed the online applications using the same out-of-state IP address.

RELATED: Mike Lee reveals the real victims of Somali fraud: 'It is not the rich people who suffer'

Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images

The charging document noted that Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance records identified the theft of approximately $115,000 in SNAP funds in relation to this scheme; however, the state agency did not appear to bother informing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General or any other law enforcement agency.

U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley hammered this point again during a press conference on Tuesday, stating that the USDA OIG "is not aware of the Massachusetts DTA making any referral report to the USDA concerning this theft."

Apparently eager to steal even more, the Dominican nationals allegedly used their own personal information to create additional fraudulent SNAP benefit accounts, which involved the alleged use of fake passports and passport cards.

Investigators found that metadata from images of the counterfeit documents indicated they were taken in Leominster, Massachusetts, at the site of El Primo Restaurant, an establishment operated by the younger brother.

The suspected fraudsters had allegedly been using the stolen welfare benefits to purchase bulk food items for retail sale at the restaurant.

Federal agents raided the restaurant and Vicioso's residence on Sept. 24, 2025, and found approximately 20 fraudulently obtained Rhode Island and Massachusetts EBT cards, fraudulent documents, a handwritten list of identities, SNAP-related mailings, and a machine that enables stolen EBT card information to be loaded on a physical payment card, alleged the charging documents.

The Justice Department noted that in addition to allegedly fraudulently obtaining at least $440,000 in SNAP benefits from Massachusetts and Rhode Island between December 2023 and September 2025, the defendants allegedly also fraudulently secured over $700,000 by submitting bogus applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits in Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington from 2020 to 2021.

For the alleged PUA fraud, at least 29 different identities were used on the applications, not including Vicioso and Fernandez, who also allegedly issued applications in their own names.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Foley told reporters on Friday. "We are investigating many more benefit fraud cases in my office, and today is just the beginning."

In December, Foley's office announced the arrests of two men — Antonio Bonheur, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Saul Alisme, a Haitian national — who allegedly engaged in a scheme to obtain millions of dollars' worth of SNAP benefits through small retail stores they ran in Boston.

The duo are also accused of selling donated food product intended for starving children overseas.

"It is not particularly hard to identify these scams, but if you don't even care to look or prosecute those involved, essentially allowing criminals to steal vast amounts of taxpayer money with impunity, the scams will continue to proliferate unabated," added Foley.

The U.S Government Accountability Office noted in a September 2024 report that an estimated 11.7% or $10.5 billion of SNAP benefits paid out by the USDA in fiscal year 2023 "were the wrong amount or otherwise should not have been made."

Last year, the USDA indicated that the national payment error rate for fiscal year 2024 was 10.93%.

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A gay whistleblower just punked Colorado’s DEI machine



In the comic books, Galactus devours worlds without discrimination. In real life, that role belongs to the Democratic Party.

You can see it play out in Minneapolis right now. Colorado offers its own case study. That’s where Rich Guggenheim is under attack inside the Colorado Department of Agriculture because he thought being a plant health programs manager meant focusing on — stay with me — plants, not pronouns.

Most people choose comfort. They tell themselves they agree with freedom, but they live like they don’t. They fear conflict more than they fear losing the country.

Last November, Guggenheim logged into a virtual meeting with roughly a dozen department heads. One agenda item covered a grant report tied to pest surveys, “inclusive leadership,” and employee participation in a program called “Colorado for All.”

Because when I think about protecting America’s food supply from pests, my first concern always involves the state’s ideological diversity metrics.

Guggenheim wanted to keep plants healthy. He didn’t have patience for the ritual. He typed a short comment into the group chat: “DEI on steroids.”

That was enough to trigger a full-blown response from Plant Industry Division Director Wondirad Gebru. Gebru paused the meeting and labeled the comment “inappropriate” in front of colleagues. Gebru told Guggenheim to mute his microphone.

Guggenheim did something better. He turned on his camera and accused Gebru, on the record, of viewpoint discrimination.

See, that’s how it’s done, folks. No excuses. Just a jawbone of an ass wielded without apology. Take stupid out to the woodshed and bludgeon it.

“They are trying to frame me as disruptive,” Guggenheim said. “But how can they do that when the topic is actually on the agenda?”

Next, Guggenheim told Gebru via private chat that he would file a formal whistleblower disclosure with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi at the U.S. Department of Justice. The letter he sent that same day alleged First Amendment violations through viewpoint discrimination and compelled speech, retaliation, and disregard for President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to stop promoting, requiring, or funding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that impose ideological preferencing.

He filed additional complaints with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Office of Special Counsel whistleblower channel; an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission inquiry; a Colorado Civil Rights Division/State Personnel Board consolidated appeal; and a state whistleblower complaint.

A month later, Guggenheim received notice of a workplace investigation. The notice offered no specifics about the allegations, the complainant, or the policy at issue. The state hired an outside group to conduct the investigation.

That process is under way as Guggenheim pursues a federal lawsuit against a state whose political class has built a reputation for using institutions as weapons.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold tried to keep Trump off the presidential primary ballot before investigators examined her office’s election-security failures. Last year, lawmakers also advanced a regime of pronoun policing and gender ideology that reaches into schools and families and invites the state to play commissar.

RELATED: The taboo conservatives refuse to confront

Blaze Media illustration

Colorado’s leadership class doesn’t merely govern. It disciplines.

“Destruction of Western civilization is what queer theory is all about,” Guggenheim said.

Guggenheim is 46. He doesn’t sound demoralized. He sounds ready. He believes Colorado has boxed itself in legally, which left him with a choice: comply, stay quiet, and keep his head down — or put the issue on the record and force a confrontation.

Most people choose comfort. They tell themselves they agree with freedom, but they live like they don’t. They fear conflict more than they fear losing the country.

Guggenheim’s refusal to be emotionally bullied by the pronoun police should shame the rest of us. He didn’t beg for approval. He didn’t bargain. He didn’t self-censor to keep the peace. He documented the coercion and escalated through the proper channels.

One detail makes the story even harder for the usual activists to process: Guggenheim is openly gay.

He still drew the line. He still confronted ideological coercion in the workplace. He still chose risk over submission.

That’s the right standard. What’s your excuse?

Biden DOJ's probe into Ilhan Omar's finances dropped same year her net worth surged



Rep. Ilhan Omar, a radical Minnesota Democrat who has in recent years been accused of immigration-related fraud, is facing scrutiny over her finances — with some officials wondering how her net worth apparently surged so much over such a short period of time.

While the liberal media has characterized the government's recent interest in Omar's finances as a partisan vendetta, sources familiar with the matter told the New York Times that the Biden Justice Department similarly felt the need to take a look at the Somali-born ethno-nationalist's finances, campaign spending, and interactions with a foreign citizen.

'I am not a millionaire.'

One source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Times that the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., and the DOJ's public integrity unit initiated the probe in June 2024. Although that was the year Omar's net worth skyrocketed, the Biden DOJ's probe supposedly stalled "for lack of evidence."

President Donald Trump, who suggested in November that Omar "shouldn't be a congressman, and we should throw her the hell out of our country," noted in a Truth Social post on Monday that the Justice Department and Congress are "looking at 'Congresswoman' Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars."

Trump added, "Time will tell all."

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told the New York Post earlier this month that congressional lawyers are looking into how Omar and her husband, Tim Mynett, went from being virtually broke to having a net worth of around $30 million in just a year.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar accuses Trump of ulterior motive for ICE raids — and JD Vance shuts her down

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years," Comer said. "It's not possible. It's not. I'm a money guy. It's not possible."

A source in federal law enforcement also insinuated that Omar was under investigation.

"We are investigating all politicians potentially connected to any of this [fraud] in Minnesota. You can read between the lines," the source told the Post.

Within months of flatly stating, "I am not a millionaire," Omar reported assets — chiefly a winery in California and her husband's investment firm, Rose Lake Capital — valued between $6 million and $30 million in her 2024 financial disclosure.

This could reportedly represent up to a 3,500% increase in net worth in 2024 compared with 2023, when she reported assets valued between approximately $40,000 and $250,000.

The year before she took office as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district, Omar had an estimated net worth of -$45,001, according to Open Secrets. Court filings cited by the Post indicated that Mynett's investment firm only had $42.44 in its bank account as of 2022.

"There is no way such wealth could have been accumulated, legally, while being paid the salary of a politician," Trump said last week.

The base compensation for most senators, representatives, and delegates is $174,000.

Omar responded to the renewed interest in her finances by suggesting that "years of 'investigations' have found nothing" and that Trump was "panicking."

She also noted in a recent TikTok video that "the value range listed for the assets reflects the full cost assessment of the businesses, in which my husband is one of several partners, and does not reflect his individual share."

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Biden Admin Launched Investigation Into Ilhan Omar's Finances and 'Interactions With a Foreign Citizen'

The Biden Justice Department launched an investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar's finances and her "interactions with a foreign citizen" in 2024, the same year the Minnesota Democrat saw her net worth skyrocket from practically nothing to upwards of $30 million, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The post Biden Admin Launched Investigation Into Ilhan Omar's Finances and 'Interactions With a Foreign Citizen' appeared first on .

ICE unleashed: Agents can once again fend off agitators after court torpedoes Biden judge's injunction



The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered anti-ICE activists a crushing blow on Monday, granting a full stay of an activist judge's ruling that had threatened to greatly restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' ability to fend off agitators and obstructionists in the Gopher State.

Quick background

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and three Minnesota-based law firms filed a lawsuit on Dec. 17 against ICE, alleging its agents violated the First and Fourth Amendment rights of several anti-ICE activists, including a Minnesota woman and a Somali-American who were both accused of attacking federal agents.

'Liberal judges tried to handcuff our federal law enforcement officers.'

Kate Menendez, a U.S. district judge nominated by former President Joe Biden, ruled in favor of the radicals on Jan. 16, prohibiting federal agents from arresting, retaliating against, and using nonlethal munitions or crowd dispersal tools against "all persons who do or will in the future record, observe, and/or protest against" Operation Metro Surge and related operations in Minnesota.

The Biden judge also barred ICE from "stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with Covered Federal Agents."

The ACLU of Minnesota welcomed the ruling and expressed relief that they'd gotten their way — but the liberal group's celebration was premature.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promptly appealed the Biden judge's ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Last week, the appellate court granted the defendants an administrative stay of Menendez's preliminary injunction.

The ACLU of Minnesota rushed to reassure fellow travelers that the "entry of an administrative stay is not a judgment by the Eighth Circuit on the merits or strength of the government's motion to stay the injunction."

RELATED: 'Organized obstruction': Leaked alleged Signal chats show anti-ICE radicals tracking ICE agents, chasing vehicles

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The liberal outfit filed its opposition to the government's stay request and asked that "the court rule quickly so that protesters and observers can again be protected by the district court's injunction immediately."

Tear gas back on the menu

To the likely chagrin of anti-ICE activists in Minnesota, an Eighth Circuit panel comprising two judges nominated by former President George W. Bush and one judge appointed by President Donald Trump granted the DHS a full stay of Menendez's injunction, claiming that it "is unlikely to survive the government's interlocutory appeal."

The court highlighted two reasons why the "government has made 'a strong showing' that its challenge to the injunction 'is likely to succeed on the merits,'" the first of which is that the "grant of relief to such a broad uncertified class is just a universal injunction by another name."

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in Trump v. CASA Inc. that the nationwide injunctions weaponized against the Trump administration by district court judges "likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts."

"Even if 'courts may issue temporary relief to a putative class,' this one has no chance of getting certified," wrote the appellate court.

The Eighth Circuit panel noted further that the radicals whom the ACLU of Minnesota want to shield from consequence aren't exactly the "peaceful and unobstructive" protesters imagined by the lesser court.

"We accessed and viewed the same videos the district court did," said the appellate court. "What they show is observers and protesters engaging in a wide range of conduct, some of it peaceful but much of it not."

In addition to the radicals engaging in a variety of behaviors, federal agents also respond in a variety of ways such that "there are no 'questions of law or fact common to the class' ... that would allow the court to decide all their claims in 'one stroke.'"

The second reason cited by the panel for why the Trump administration's challenge is likely to succeed is that the "injunction is too vague" and requires a fair bit of mind-reading on the part of federal agents.

"Even the provision that singles out the use of 'pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools' requires federal agents to predict what the district court would consider 'peaceful and unobstructive protest activity,'" wrote the court. "The videos underscore how difficult it would be for them to decide who has crossed the line: They show a fast-changing mix of peaceful and obstructive conduct, with many protesters getting in officers' faces and blocking their vehicles as they conduct their activities, only for some of them to then rejoin the crowd and intermix with others who were merely recording and observing the scene."

The injunction's breadth and vagueness also threatens to undermine the public interest as federal agents might begin hesitating in the execution of their lawful duties, said the court.

Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the ruling as a "WIN AGAINST JUDICIAL ACTIVISM IN MINNESOTA."

"Liberal judges tried to handcuff our federal law enforcement officers, restrict their actions, and put their safety at risk when responding to violent agitators," wrote Bondi. "The DOJ went to court. We got a temporary stay. NOW, the 8th Circuit has fully agreed that this reckless attempt to undermine law enforcement cannot stand."

Blaze News has reached out to the ACLU of Minnesota for comment.

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Anti-ICE radical who took credit for the invasion of Minnesota church ARRESTED by feds



Radicals from Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and BLM Twin Cities assembled on Sunday for a so-called "ICE Out Action," then stormed a Christian church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday morning that at her direction, Homeland Security Investigations and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, the founder of the Racial Justice Network and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, who claimed responsibility for the disruption.

The AG indicated that Chauntyll Louisa Allen, a radical lesbian who has led BLM Twin Cities and worked for the Saint Paul School Board since 2020, was also arrested.

"Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," wrote Bondi.

'President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.'

FBI Director Kash Patel indicated that both Armstrong and Allen were arrested for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon indicated in the immediate aftermath of the radicals' incursion into Cities Church, which apparently has a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-affiliated pastor, that her office was looking into potential FACE Act violations "by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."

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Photo by Jason Alpert-Wisnia/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

"We don’t want to prejudge, but I think it is fair to say that I saw multiple federal criminal incidents yesterday, and there will be charges," Dhillon told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck Monday. "It's only a question of when we can get a judge to sign off on arrest warrants and exactly what the charges would be."

The law prohibits the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.

Violations can result in prison time and hefty fines as well as civil lawsuits.

Footage of the church-storming appears to show the mob led by Armstrong blocking the altar, yelling Renee Good's name, and pressing parishioners individually to answer whether they support ICE. One pair of visibly upset churchgoers can be seen in the video comforting one another while the radicals angrily condemn members of law enforcement.

In one video of the mob action, Armstrong apparently yells, "Someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents. Think about what we experienced. The murder of Renee Good at the hands of ICE. A Venezuelan national shot by ICE."

Armstrong references a pair of individuals who were shot while allegedly attacking federal agents, then yells, "How dare you claim to be a pastor of God? ... You are involved in evil in our community," video appears to show.

"President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday. "The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota."

Bondi suggested that there are more arrests to come.

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